Nuh violence: BJP guns for local Cong MLA who took on Monu Manesar in Assembly | Political Pulse News

In the Budget Session of the Haryana Assembly in February, soon after the killings of Junaid and Nasir by alleged cow vigilantes – believed to be a flashpoint behind the recent violence – Khan had named Monu Manesar as among those responsible for the murders and demanded stern action against him.

Manesar’s name is in the FIR registered by the Rajasthan Police in the case, though he was never arrested. Junaid and Nasir belonged to Rajasthan and their bodies were found dumped in Bhiwani in Haryana.

Now, Manesar’s name has cropped up in connection with the Nuh violence, with his social media posts, vowing to be part of the religious yatra led by the VHP and Bajrang Dal in the area, seen as inciting the Muslim side.

In the Assembly in February, Khan had also displayed photographs depicting acts of violence allegedly by Manesar, and dared him to visit the Mewat region, promising they would teach him a lesson if he did so.

Khan had said: “Yeh Monu Manesar kahin Amit Shah ke saath photo khichva raha hai, kahin Arun Jaitley ke saath photo khichva raha hai. Kya darana chahta hai hamein yeh Mewatiyon ko ke mein itna bada aadmi hoon? Abke yeh Mewat mein gaya toh isko pyaaz ki tarah phod denge (This Monu Manesar got his pictures clicked with Amit Shah at one place, with Arun Jaitley at another. Does he want to scare the Mewatis by showing that he is a big man? If he dares visit Mewat again, he will be crushed like an onion).” The photo with the late Jaitley was reportedly an old one.

Among the photos Khan showed in the Assembly, some also had Manesar and other cow vigilantes carrying weapons. “On what basis haa the government allowed them to possess weapons?” he asked.

Following Khan’s accusations, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala had announced a committee to investigate the same.

Following the Nuh violence, Manesar told Aaj Tak TV channel that Khan had supported the Nuh rioters, along with other Muslim MLAs in the area.

Chautala said that the Haryana government is probing the matter, and “be it Monu Manesar or Mamman Khan, whoever is found responsible shall not be spared at any cost”.

Speaking at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, its national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi Thursday said Khan’s statement in the Vidhan Sabha and his social media posts “raise suspicion about the Congress’s role in the violence”.

While Khan remained unavailable for comment, Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said: “What Mamman Khan said was many months ago in the Assembly, and later he apologised for his remarks at our request. Linking his statement with the recent violence is completely incorrect.”

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda said CM Manohar Lal Khattar should take moral responsibility for the violence and resign. “The violence in Nuh was either with the connivance of the government, or an indicator of its failure. People of the state have lost faith in this government. There is no hope left of action against the rioters… Law and order has completely collapsed.”

Alleging an intelligence failure, he said: “People are asking that if you already knew that there was a conspiracy, what steps were taken to foil it?”

With Manesar also naming other Congress Muslim MLAs, the party’s Nuh legislator, Aftab Ahmed, said: “The state government is trying to link Mamman Khan’s statement with the violence to hide its own failures and incompetence… Even now, what the police are doing is not correct. They are not differentiating between the innocent and the accused. They are just picking up people… Fear prevails in entire Nuh and people are leaving their homes.”